Classical music can be a dangerous pastime... What with love affairs, their conductor dropping dead, a stolen cello and no money, Stockwell Park Orchestra is having a fraught season. After Mrs Ford-Hughes is squashed and injured by a dying guest conductor mid-concert, she and her husband withdraw their generous financial backing, leaving the orchestra broke and unsure of its future. Cellist Erin suggests a recovery plan, but since it involves their unreliable leader, Fenella, playing a priceless Stradivari cello which then goes missing, it’s not a fool-proof one. Joshua, the regular conductor, can’t decide which affair to commit to, while manager David’s nervous tic returns at every doom-laden report from the orchestra’s treasurer. There is one way to survive, but is letting a tone-deaf diva sing Strauss too high a price to pay? And will Stockwell Park Orchestra live to play another season? What people are saying about Life, Death and Cellos: “I was charmed... a very enjoyable read.” Marian Keyes “Life, Death and Cellos is a witty and irreverent musical romp, full of characters I’d love to go for a pint with. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the Stockwell Park Orchestra and can't wait for the next book in the series.” Claire King, author of The Night Rainbow “Life, Death and Cellos is that rare thing – a funny music book. Rogers knows the world intimately, and portrays it with warmth, accuracy and a poetic turn of phrase. Sharp, witty and richly entertaining.” Lev Parikian, author of Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? “With its retro humour bordering on farce, this novel offers an escape into the turbulent (and bonkers) world of the orchestra.” Isabel Costello, author of Paris Mon Amour “Dodgy post-rehearsal curries, friendly insults between musicians, sacrosanct coffee-and-biscuit breaks, tedious committee meetings: welcome to the world of the amateur orchestra. Throw in a stolen Stradivarius, an unexpected fatality and the odd illicit affair and you have Life, Death and Cellos, the first in a new series by Isabel Rogers.” Rebecca Franks, BBC Music Magazine “...a very funny tale of musical shenanigans set in the febrile atmosphere of the Stockwell Park Orchestra” Ian Critchley
Community music projects always spread harmony... don’t they? When players in Stockwell Park Orchestra fear they may be getting out of touch with the community, they invite children from two nearby schools to join them for a season. Supercilious, rich Oakdean College pupils have never mixed with the rough Sunbridge Academy kids, and when things go missing and rumours spread, the situation threatens to turn ugly. DCI Noel Osmar has to tread carefully: after all, he’s off duty. Step forward, Carl the trombonist. Can music heal social rifts? Who has been stealing and why? And will the orchestra’s newly-composed fanfare turn out to be fantastic... or farcical? Praise for The Stockwell Park Orchestra Series: “I was charmed... a very enjoyable read.” Marian Keyes “Friendly insults between musicians, sacrosanct coffee-and-biscuit breaks, tedious committee meetings: welcome to the world of the amateur orchestra.” BBC Music Magazine “...a witty and irreverent musical romp, full of characters I’d love to go for a pint with. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the Stockwell Park Orchestra and can't wait for the next book in the series.” Claire King, author of The Night Rainbow “Sharp, witty and richly entertaining.” Lev Parikian, author of Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? “With its retro humour bordering on farce, this novel offers an escape into the turbulent (and bonkers) world of the orchestra.” Isabel Costello, author of Paris Mon Amour “...a very funny tale of musical shenanigans set in the febrile atmosphere of the Stockwell Park Orchestra” Ian Critchley
A continental tour of Europe doesn’t go quite as planned! When Stockwell Park Orchestra goes on tour to Europe, it proves a challenge for even the most efficient German logistical planner. A teenage stowaway, brass players falling in canals and a sabotaged timpani van are all in a day’s work for Ingrid Bauer of Note Perfect Tours, but even she can’t solve all the problems this week throws at her. Maybe a bit of surprise Bach can calm the muddy Brexit waters. She just has to fish out the musicians first. Praise for The Stockwell Park Orchestra Series: “I was charmed... a very enjoyable read.” Marian Keyes “Friendly insults between musicians, sacrosanct coffee-and-biscuit breaks, tedious committee meetings: welcome to the world of the amateur orchestra.” BBC Music Magazine “...a witty and irreverent musical romp, full of characters I’d love to go for a pint with. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the Stockwell Park Orchestra and can't wait for the next book in the series.” Claire King, author of The Night Rainbow “Sharp, witty and richly entertaining.” Lev Parikian, author of Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? “With its retro humour bordering on farce, this novel offers an escape into the turbulent (and bonkers) world of the orchestra.” Isabel Costello, author of Paris Mon Amour “...a very funny tale of musical shenanigans set in the febrile atmosphere of the Stockwell Park Orchestra” Ian Critchley
In John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, the pilgrims cannot reach the Celestial City without passing through Vanity Fair, where everything is bought and sold. In recent years there has been much analysis of commerce and consumption in Britain during the long eighteenth century, and of the dramatic expansion of popular publishing. Similarly, much has been written on the extraordinary effects of the evangelical revivals of the eighteenth century in Britain, Europe, and North America. But how did popular religious culture and the world of print interact? It is now known that religious works formed the greater part of the publishing market for most of the century. What religious books were read, and how? Who chose them? How did they get into people's hands? Vanity Fair and the Celestial City is the first book to answer these questions in detail. It explores the works written, edited, abridged, and promoted by evangelical dissenters, Methodists both Arminian and Calvinist, and Church of England evangelicals in the period 1720 to 1800. Isabel Rivers also looks back to earlier sources and forward to the continued republication of many of these works well into the nineteenth century. The first part is concerned with the publishing and distribution of religious books by commercial booksellers and not-for-profit religious societies, and the means by which readers obtained them and how they responded to what they read. The second part shows that some of the most important publications were new versions of earlier nonconformist, episcopalian, Roman Catholic, and North American works. The third part explores the main literary kinds, including annotated bibles, devotional guides, exemplary lives, and hymns. Building on many years' research into the religious literature of the period, Rivers discusses over two hundred writers and provides detailed case studies of popular and influential works.
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